Great pizza in San Marcos

Several times a year, I make a quick trip to San Marcos to hit the outlet malls. Every time, I think I’ll finally find THE place that I want to visit for lunch, one that’s good enough that I can’t wait to go back to again.

After several fruitless searches, I finally hit paydirt, thanks to a recommendation from a clerk at Coldwater Creek.

“Try Valentino’s,” she said. “They’re pizza is fabulous.”

From the outlet mall at Exit 200, we drove above four miles north on IH-35, took Exit 204 and ended up at 110 N. LBJ and Valentino’s Pizza and More, which is located on the Square in San Marcos. We pictured a new trendy spot, so imagine our surprise when we found out our server had been working at the restaurant more than 30 years and it had been there long before she arrived.

I’m sure many already know about the place 7 — our server told us Valentino’s was known far and wide (just not be us, I guess). But if you haven’t tried it, it’s worth making a stop. We asked for our pizza crust to be tossed super thin, and they prepared it just the way we wanted it. It was perfectly topped; enough, but not so many ingredients that they detracted from the pie. Cheese was generously applied and browned to perfection.

We also appreciated the homemade Ranch salad dressing. So many times we get the bottled stuff that just doesn’t have the appeal of the real thing.

Service was friendly, our bill was astonishingly reasonable (a large, 16-inch cheese pizza is just $11.59) and we left happy in the knowledge that we’d found the spot we’d been looking for after a day of outlet mall shopping.

The pizzeria is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day except Sunday, when it’s open from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. They have a lunch buffet on weekdays until 2 p.m. where you can get all-you-can-eat pizza for $4.39.